Getting chased for old electric debt that may not be mine

cally6008

Yesterday

Just received a letter this morning from LCS Civil Enforcement.

The letter says that they have looked into an old address of mine between 12/01/2007 and 14/12/2008 and believe that I am responsible for paying the full amount.

I know for a fact that I only lived at said address for 6 months anyway so thats dropped the amount down by 75% (I hope).

My dad is certain that E.On wasn't even supplying the electric to the property, not to my flat anyway (house split into 2 flats). E.On did the Gas for definite (got proof of this) and we're pretty certain it was Npower supplying electric. Is there any way we can check this anywhere ?

I'm in a blind panic trying to locate a box that has all my papers in it from when we moved into our current home as this has tenancy agreements in etc <anyone fancy a guess at to where it could be>.

Havent rang them yet ? Probably won't. Need to find all relevant paperwork first .. don't I ?

Today

I found the tenancy agreement for the house I'm in now so that should go part way to proving when I moved out of the old place.

I rang Npower up yesterday but on searching for the address they could only find a Flat 37 or 37 (x) street so not much help. It definitely doesn't help that the dodgy landlord split the house into 2 flats and didnt register either of them correctly with the relevant authorities as half the time the correct address' never show up on the system.

I'm going to phone up the Meter Operator place and attempt to track down the meter serial number and then phone Npower back up.

The only down side is that I can not, for the life of me, find any bills, slips or letters regarding electric from the old address

cally6008

Several phone calls later and it would appear that EOn are chasing an imaginary debt as there is no record of them having supplied electric to the property since 2001 and earlier.

Where to go from here ?

GeorgeUK

How did you pay for the electricity?
Could it be in any of your old bank statements?

Edit: Just seen your last post. I think it is time to send the "prove it" letter to whoever is chasing this debt. It is not up to you to prove that a debt is not owed - it is up to them to prove that it is.

cally6008

I believe it was pay at post office. No records on bank statements cos checked already.

Eon are chasing a 2007-2008 debt when they haven't even been supplying the electric to the property during that time.

Eon supplied the elctric to the property before 2001
2001 - Npower took over
2006 - House turned into 2 flats
2007 (jan-jun) - I lived in one of the flats

Npower still supply the property with electric

Cleosmum

Eon are currently chasing my OH for a debt that doesnt exist. It is up to them to prove that you owe it, and Eon are refusing to prove this with my OH. Dont get into a panic!

cally6008

Just rang Eon up and it turns out its for the gas not the electric (where the heck I got electric from I don't know).

I do have prepay statements from Gas though and they have record of me paying etc but don't have record of me moving out (even though I'm sure I told them).

They want me to fax a copy of old tenancy agreement (went in bin, oops) but she said a copy of new tenancy agreement for this house I'm in now "should" suffice but she can't guarantee it.

She said to fax it to LCS as well with a note saying I've been in touch with Eon etc. She says it will take 10 days or so to filter through the system and hopefully get sorted out.

cally6008

Latest on this is that I sent the fax through to Eon and to LCS.

I rang Eon up on wednesday (I think) and they say they got the fax fine and I should hear from them in a couple of days.

I've had a "Final Demand" letter from LCS this morning that doesnt mention the faxes I sent them but does mention solicitors, house visits and appearing in front of a district judge.

What letter do I send to LCS to tell them to *beep* off ?

MrsTinks

Wouldn't bother wasting paper, envelope or stamp The letter they have sent is a standard threatening letter by the sounds of it - once Eon confirm the bill is not yours then if the collection company contact you again send a very threatening letter to eon and them (eon are responcible for anyone collecting debts on their behalf) advising them that if they ever contact you again you will take legal advice on suing them for harrassment and seek damages for the stress they have caused you

rog2

cally6008 wrote: »

I've had a "Final Demand" letter from LCS this morning that doesnt mention the faxes I sent them but does mention solicitors, house visits and appearing in front of a district judge.

What letter do I send to LCS to tell them to *beep* off ?

Hi cally - not sure of a 'template' letter, but, since the 'debt' is in dispute, LCS should NOT be chasing you for payment - see:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Certainly worth giving National Debtline a call on 0808 808 4000 to see if they can reccomend a letter.

competitionscafe

I had a card in the post today from LCS. It said that they will visit on x date betwen 8am and 8pm, gave a reference number and that's it. I have contacted them by phone previously about 2 bills from Scottish Power. One of these (for £177 on estimated readings) was paid but the other one (on actual final meter readings) I paid £68 out of the £168. So they are chasing me for the other £100 (+£13 late payment charge).

When I phoned LCS they eventually said the second bill was "from another account" and said this must be carried over from my previous address. I said my previous address bills had been paid in full and in any case Scottish Power was not my supplier at the previous address it was BGas (elec) and Npower (gas).

I changed supplier (from Scottish Power) as soon as I moved into this address in late October and yet they have billed me nearly £400 for gas for 2 months in a small 1 bedroom flat. Bills from my current supplier are nowhere near this.

I asked LCS for proof that I owed almost £400 for gas and gave them the moving in and end of contract meter readings. I don't have a problem with paying the bill but almost £400 seems very high and I just want proof that this is actually owed and that I am not paying somebody elses bill or an estimated bill and actual bill for the same time period (ie paying twice).
I think this is quite a reasonable request?

What will happen on the date of the visit? Never had one of these cards before...

rog2

competitionscafe wrote: »

What will happen on the date of the visit? Never had one of these cards before...

Basically, cc, what 'will' happen on the date of the visit and what 'should' happen on the date of the visit is entirely down to you.

You should be advised that a 'home visit' by LCS carries no authority whatsoever. 'Home visits' by dcas should only be carried out by mutual agreement and, even then, the dca would have no authority other thn to ask you if you wish to make a payment towards the 'alleged debt'. They have no authority, nor should they imply that they have such authrity, to sieze any goods - in fact they have no authority to enter your house and they must leave immediately as soon as you ask them to.

However, all that aside - you have disputed the debt - they should not even be attempting to collect against a debt that is in reasonable dispute, until that dispute is resolved.

Have a look at the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines, in particular the sections on 'Home Visits' and 'Disputed Debts':

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Please do not hesitate to report any deviation, by LCS, from these guidelines to Trading Standards.